Don-don Izakaya

"Izakaya" is a Japanese type diner where drinks and small plate of snacks are served: which pretty much guarantee a jolly good time. There are many izakayas out there, I like Don-don Izakaya. 

First off, location is prime: it's on Dundas street between University and Yonge street. For a commuter like me, location is so important so I'm not hiking a long time to get there and can have a drink without worrying about driving. Selfish? Absolutely.


At the entry way you go right upstairs, there's a giant drum at the front. Drum away! (No I'm kidding I'm not sure if it means anything but it does seem to go with the atmosphere here). When you walk in you get immediately welcomed by warm servers with cheers and drums. (See? they drum the drums too!)


And there is their sake wall: just look at the amount and variety there is! you could do a number of sakes, by the cup, by the ounce, or by the bottle. We got a rather large (750ml) of sake to share, not too shy at all. There are also a whole bunch of mixed drinks with neat flavors like pear, lychee, or peach. And ofcourse, there's beer. Honestly half the menu is drinks, so what ever mood you are in there's something for you. There's also a game you can play, it's currently on right now (Jan 2020) but could be seasonal as it's not on their permanent menu. You pay something like $4-5 and get to throw 2 dice into a wooden salad bowl. The result number will get you a drink according to a chart: coke is the least exciting thing there but you can also get a good glass of the $250++/bottle of sake! Ask for it, it's a lot of fun with friends.

The regular menu has a lot of items already. Check it out here http://www.dondonizakaya.com/ . There's also seasonal menus - usually in a hand-drawn format, laminated page and get changed a lot. We got a few things from the special menu: Wasabi squid sashimi (it's raw squid piece and got a strong wasabi flavor, be aware!) Grill Salmon belly (not imaged, because it got devoured cuz it's so good. And oh get the belly, not the cheek - you get a choice of which body part of the fish you want. Get the belly, duh.). And cold octopus salad - the fish is cooked here and has a bit of lemony-ness to it. Sorry about the terrible pictures, the place is dark and my old Samsung S7 is doing the best it can. 

I think between the 2 of us we got something like 8 things. Portions are really not that big so you get a couple of bites per dish per person. We also got Salmon Sashimi (yes I love sashimi!!), and the thing on the right is called a.. octopus ball pizza? No it's takoyaki pizza. I tried to use flash to get a better picture so the cheese is so white it's a bit in your face. Haha but it's not really a pizza, because it's better than a pizza! Seafood fried balls with marinara sauce, melted cheese and served on escargot tray - YAS! Lotus chips were also good - crispy and thin, better than what I was able to achieve at home that's for sure. Not pictured, cuz we ate it too fast.

Next time when you visit say.. the Eaton Centre or whatever in this neighborhood - give Don don Isakaya a chance.